


Arkham War

by TaneleerTivan



Category: Batman: Arkham Asylum (Video Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2017-12-09 21:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/778398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaneleerTivan/pseuds/TaneleerTivan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year after the Joker's death, the inmates are tired of Arkham City. They want out. On Hiatus until Arkham Knight is released because it basically shatters everything I have planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**0248 HOURS, ARKHAM CITY SEWERS**

Deep beneath the torn streets of Arkham City, a beast had been trapped beneath the surface. Struggling to find food, Waylon Jones had begun yet another attempt to find a way out. He followed the stench of man, and found it leading him to somewhere unexpected. As he approached his makeshift home, he saw a tall, thin man sitting atop his bed. Croc crouched, and snuck towards the man as stealthily as possible. He leapt down into his lair with a roar, and was instantly struck with an extreme confusion, dizziness and general horrible feeling. He fell to the floor, and the strange man approached.

"Hello, Waylon." the man said, in a croaky, unsettling voice. "Remember me?" As the man knelt down, Croc got a better look at him. He wore ragged brown pants, and had a mechanical glove with syringes on the fingertips. A torn bag with gas filters in the cheeks concealed his face, and a hood covered that. He wore a hangman's noose like a neck-tie, and several large bandages covering his middle section. Scarecrow noticed Croc staring at his wound.

"Ah, yes." he continued, "You really took a bite out of me. But once I washed ashore, a friend patched me up. He shares some of my interests. And I'm sure when he's done with some aspects of his interest, he'd be happy to give some of them to you."

"What do you want, freak?" Croc spat, barely conscious.

"My offer is simple. Assist me, and you can eat all of the meat-sacks you want. Think it over. And when you make the right choice, follow the trail of rats, and we'll establish a slightly more detailed deal. Have fun in dreamland."

"Fuck you." Scarecrow jumped from the hole, and stopped to say "It could be worse. You be in one of Tetch's hallucinations. Trust me, mine are more fun." And with that, he left Croc to his nightmare.

* * *

**0402 HOURS, KRANK TOYS CO.**

Villain alliances never usually worked. So when Bane had seen the three villains assemble and plot right in front of him, he didn't bother asking to be freed. He just sat and listened to their plans. The trio stood in the shadows, but he had identified Two-face as soon as a decision had come up. Garfield Lynns took a little longer to pick, but Bane had taken the hint as soon as Harvey had called him "Firefly". The third said a lot of science words during the meeting, miss-heard a lot of what the others had to say, and generally acted like he didn't want to be there. After a while, Firefly left, and Two-face gave the third man a syringe. He then abandoned the third man, who reluctantly stabbed himself with the chemical. It was at that point Bane discovered who the man was. A man who would be bat. A man who burst through the roof and let in the cold. Bane took an instant disliking to him.


	2. Killer Moth

**2307 HOURS, THE STACKED DECK**

Since the construction of Arkham City, the Stacked Deck's business had dropped drastically. Most of the usual customers were incarcerated, and the club's other location was deep inside the mega-prison. Costumed criminals were becoming a rare sight in the club, so when Drury Walker, Killer Moth, entered on a drizzly Tuesday, nobody laughed or teased him like they usually would. They treated him like they'd treat any other criminal, because he was the best they would get. People became a little more excitable when Batman burst through the roof and began to battle the villain. They fought for a few minutes, but Killer Moth blew up a wall and escaped in the confusion.

**2319 HOURS, FACTORY DISTRICT**

Several workers worked calmly at their machines, building a variety of toasters and such, when Killer Moth flew in through a window and turned to blast at the quickly pursuing Batman, who glided down onto a conveyer belt and flung a partially made microwave at the crook, who tapped a button on his belt and simply let the device collide with the now-active energy field.

"What do you think of my upgrades, bats?" the villain mocked.

Batman ducked behind several crates to dodge Walkers blasts, and pulled out his cryptographic sequencer. He hacked Killer Moth's tech and shut it down, before grappling Moth and kicking him in the chest and back into the wall.

**2327 HOURS, GOTHAM WATERFRONT**

Killer Moth fell back reeling towards the docks, and began attempting to blast Batman to pieces, but his tech was too heavily damaged to function. He began to fiddle with his flight pack before Batman leapt at him, and fell into the water as Killer Moth floated up above the dock. The Batman climbed back up onto the land and threw a freeze-grenade at him, sending the villain on an erratic flight path that led him to…

**ARKHAM ISLAND, 2330 HOURS**

Batman rode to Arkham Island in the Batboat, hoping that Killer Moth hadn't already escaped. Once he reached the island, it was time for some detective work. He activated his detective vision and began to follow a tracking beacon emanating from the grenade. He followed the signal to the botanic gardens, where he trekked through the wild growth. The untamed forest and wreckage left behind by Poison Ivy's Titan fuelled rampage. Batman traced the signal to a cocoon. He pulled a batarang from his belt and began to cut it open and found the body of an Arkham Guard, with the grenade stuffed in his empty eye-socket. Before the Batman could react, Killer Moth jumped down from the roof and threw a grenade of his own into Batman's back. Said grenade encased Batman in a cocoon, and began to eject all the air trapped inside with him. Killer Moth began to fly away, but was hit with a Wing-Ding and fell to the floor. Nightwing flew in from a window and landed on the crook, knocking him out, then ran over to the cocoon and broke Batman out. The police had Killer Moth within minutes.

**0953 HOURS, ARKHAM CITY PROCESSING CENTRE**

Drury Walker, now bereft of his suit, was dropped into the sprawling mega-prison only hours after his arrest, and was greeted by inmates with black skulls etched on their chests. They each ran forward and each was kicked back and knocked out. Walker ran to the Monarch Theatre, broke the door down, and then fell through the building-wide hole in the floor. He landed in the abandoned Chamber of the Demon, surrounded by wreckage and ruins. He began to rummage through the broken machines, trying to find something that could help him out of his handcuffs, but he found something much better. He found a decomposing body with green hair and a torn purple suit…

* * *

**0952 HOURS, GOTHAM MORGUE**

Nobody had moved the Joker's corpse. It was kept under 24 hour surveillance and an expert checked to ensure that it was the real body once a week. Unfortunately, those experts weren't as good as they thought. Early one Sunday morning, a familiar face entered the room, and pulled the Joker's body from its chamber. A scarred Bruce Wayne pulled a small taser from his jacket and shocked the body into consciousness, as it browned and grew to its' true face.

"Hello, Karlo." Bruce greeted, "Wanna have a little fun?"


	3. Alliances

**2403 HOURS, THE BATCAVE**

The Batboat sped into the cave, its engines roaring. Batman leapt from the aquatic vehicle, Nightwing following, and approached the Batcomputer.

“Y’know, a ‘Thank you’ wouldn’t go amiss right now. I did save your life.” Nightwing said. Batman ignored him and began looking through the Batcomputers’ files. “How did Killer Moth get out?” he stated more than asked.

“What?”

“Walker’s file states than he was locked up in Arkham City six months ago. He wasn’t released, and there’s no record of him escaping.”

“Maybe the warden thought he was dead?” Nightwing suggested.

“He would have been listed among the casualties.” Batman replied.

“What if he used a decoy?”

“He doesn’t have those kinds of resources.”

“What if he does now? What if Clayface is still alive and has partnered up with him? What if he joined up with Penguin or Two-Face? What if someone external wanted him out?” Batman turned to Nightwing.

“The only reason anyone would want Killer Moth free is… for a distraction.” he realised. Suddenly, the Batcomputer screen turned to static as a familiar voice echoed through the speakers.

“Batman? Batman.” Mr Freeze said through the heavily firewalled computer he had just hacked.

“Fries. How did you get this frequency?” Batman somehow asked and ordered at once.

“You have hacked enough terminals in Park Row alone for me to identify your frequency. I need your help.” An explosion rang out in the back-ground.

“Dent has set Firefly on me. The GCPD won’t hold out for long.”

“Why should I help you?” Another explosion tossed shrapnel at Fries.

“Because I have access to all of your files. If Dent gets me, he’s likely to prise the codes from me and gain access himself. That could only be bad for you.” A colossal explosion collapsed the roof, shutting off the signal.

“Are you going to-“Nightwing began, before turning to where Bruce was. The Batmobile sped off through the waterfall at the caves’ entrance and left for Arkham City.

“Can you just once say ‘Let’s get in the car’?” Nightwing asked rhetorically before getting on his motorcycle and following.

* * *

 

**2413 HOURS, CYRUS PINKNEY NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, ARKHAM CITY**

Two-Face sat at his throne, high above all others. Well, at least he called it a throne. It was really just a comfortable arm-chair that Harvey had put above the “Gladiator Pit”. He watched his men slaughter the un-aligned inmates wanting to join his gang. His test was easier than Penguin’s used to be. He would let his top fighters into the pit. They would kill half of the new recruits and the survivors would be allowed to work for him. Sadly, there weren’t as many recruits as there used to be. He had control over most of Arkham City by now. Penguin lost most of his gang after Batman locked him up in one of the museum’s cases, and many of Jokers men had abandoned Harley Quinn following the Joker’s death and Harley’s failed attempt at revenge. Another gang had begun to surface, led by Black Mask. Not much of a challenge for Harvey’s armies, but it would be fun while it lasted. Harvey had also noticed large numbers of inmates had been disappearing. Either a fourth gang was surfacing, or the new warden was as rotten as the last. It was at this point that Harvey lost his train of thought, due to Firefly entering, dragging an unconscious Mr Freeze behind.

“Got him, boss.” Firefly announced.

“Good. Remind us to give you a raise.” Two-Face instructed. “Take him to the tower.”

* * *

**2413 HOURS, RIDDLER’S SECOND DEATH-TRAP, ARKHAM CITY**

Killer Croc burst from the wall, snarling. Five inmates had managed to get inside, and had taken refuge from the cold. To most people this would be a minor setback. To Croc, it was more than he had eaten in weeks. After gorging himself, he approached the door, where he heard two more prisoners trying to get in.

“C’mon man, get it open!” one inmate snapped.

“I’m tryin’. Hey, didya hear the rumours?” the other replied.

“Yeah. But it can’t be true. Can it?"

“No way. If Fries couldn’t escape, then there’s no way in hell that Killer Moth got out.”

“Killer Moth got out?”

“It’s just a rumour. Why, what rumour did ya think we was talkin about?”

“Joker coming back as a zombie.”

“Well frankly, dat’s more likely than Killer Moth getting’ out.”

“Don’t be so sure. I heard that Moth was working for Scarecrow.”

“Didn’t Croc off Scarecrow back at the Asylum?”

“Wrong!” Croc roared as he burst through the door, hurling the inmates back into the wall opposite. Killer Croc turned and continued following the trail of rats through the derelict city. Inmates ran for cover when they heard his thunderous foot-falls, hiding inside buildings and behind dumpsters. One guy even jumped off a bridge. Eventually, he came up in front of the shattered remains of the Merchants Bank. Ratcatcher was waiting for him outside.

“Welcome to the party, Waylon.” He said, before opening the creaking doors wide.

* * *

**0220 HOURS, WONDER TOWER, ARKHAM CITY**

The charred remains of Wonder Tower had been blocked off to all inmates. Luckily, Two Face had connections, and Firefly had a colossal flamethrower. After besting thirty of the Tyger guards who had chosen to stay with the facility, Two Face and around seventeen of his goons had reached to top with Fries and Firefly. Most of Fries’ suit had been removed while he was unconscious, leaving just enough armour to keep him alive.

“So, Victor,” Two-Face began calmly, “Are you going to tell us what we need to know?”

“You haven’t told me what you need to know.” Fries snapped back. “If you had asked at the museum, I probably would have just told you.” Harvey smiled.

“How do we access the Batman’s server?” He asked politely.

“I’m not sure he’d appreciate me telling you that.” Victor replied.

“You’re already in prison, doctor.” Two-Face explained, his voice raspy and rough, “What else can he do to you?” Victor analysed the situation. Seventeen thugs, three armed, two armoured. One with a machete. Then there was Firefly. Brute force wasn’t an option.

 _“Battle of wits, then.”_ thought Victor.

“How about this.” Two-Face continued, “I’m going to flip this coin. If it lands clean, Mr Lynns over here won’t fry you like-“

“Like you?” Fries interrupted. Harvey tensed. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and flipped his coin. Clean.

“Yes.” He replied. “Every time you don’t tell us what we want to hear, we’ll flip it. Understand?”

“What I don’t understand is how these buffoons are still taking orders from you.” Fries taunted. “There’s no logic to your decisions. It’s all chance.” The thugs began to think this over.

“One day, a lot of people are going to die because you couldn’t make a decision by yourself. All because of that coin.”

“So we’re in agreement.” Harvey replied, pulling a gun from his holster. “You first.”

“What about your coin?” Harvey cringed, desperately wanting to pull the trigger. He flipped anyway, and it came up clean.

“Lucky fella’.” Harvey said, “Y’know, if we don’t count anything else that’s ever happened to you.”

“That’s not going to-“

“Boss.” Firefly interrupted Fries, putting his finger to one of his helmets antennae. “One of the lookouts just spotted the Bat.” Harvey threw his head back in frustration, before flipping again.

“We’re leaving.” Harvey ordered after checking the results. Firefly turned to leave.

“Not you. Kill the snowman. Make a show of it.” Firefly nodded, staying at his post while the thugs left with Two-Face. The Batwing hovered up in front of the colossal opening left by Protocol 11.

“Firefly.” Batman’s voice called out over the loud-speakers. “One warning. Stand down.”

“What are you gonna do to me?” Lynns taunted, “I’m already in jail!” Then he exploded into a colossal ball of fire.


End file.
